Gather the Outcasts

(Photo credit: All Seasons Photography) “Every one of us is looking In a place where peace won’t find us there Every one of us is wanting Something amazing that's in between The living and the dying All we have is now” "Mommy, can I have a snack"? "Hey honey! What's for dinner"? "Mom, have you seen my..."  Motherhood is a hood nobody prepared for me. How could they? Sometimes, in the midst of all the chaos and demands, I have found myself looking....wanting. Wondering if I missed something amazing. Curious as to who I could have become had I never said yes to this role. Somewhere in the "in between", I feared I overlooked something.  Could I have been this emergency room doctor with her perfectly quaffed hair that never seems to tangle and her white coat that always seems to hug her waistline just right? I could see myself walking around the hospital with my snake skin 6 inch stilettoed shoes that are incapable of killing my feet. The sou...

"Every one of us is looking In a place where peace won't find us there Every one of us is wanting Something amazing that's in between The living and the dying All we have is now" -Disciple It has been my experience that there are two things that if not properly handled will make you absolutely miserable. Your past. Your future. While not all of us have outrageously traumatic pasts, most of us have gone through some kind of trauma. Those hurts when not dealt with properly so that they can heal, will cause us to freeze in our present. We let the pain speak to us and tell us to be afraid because at any moment we could be hurt again. It's that uncertainty that causes us to respond with inaction. However, that inaction could also be keeping us from some of the greatest adventures of our lives!  So many of us feel stuck in jobs that we find no joy in. Yet we are hesitant and scared to leave those jobs to go after something better. Even in our misery we feel a comfort. W...

I Don’t Belong Here, Part 2 I was told that our first post should include an introduction. Instantly, my mind flashed back to grade school where I had to stand up in front of the entire class to tell a little about myself. Nothing but grunts and stutters proceeded out of my mouth as I single-handedly gave the most embarrassing display of a simple introduction. Within seconds, every detail about myself suddenly left my brain and I couldn’t remember who I was. Hey! I’m Felicia. I have the most supportive and adoring husband, Phil. We have five children, two boys and three girls. Yes, we had them on purpose! Outside my role of wife and mother, my identity is fairly ordinary and sometimes awkward. Within my role of wife and mother, I find my purpose and my greatest love. At 18 I was married to Phil. By 19, I became a mother. And not just any mother, but a mother to a child with special needs. I typically do not talk about life before that moment, because for me, that is where my life began...

So, here goes. My first post on the "Gather the Outcasts" Blog. I suppose I should introduce myself, even though most everyone who will be reading this probably already knows me, lol. My name is Phil. I am a husband to an amazing woman, Felicia, who will be the other contributor to this Blog. I'm a dad. We have a lot of kids and we like it that way. It is my goal to be the best man of God, husband, and father I can be. I fail more often than not but so far God has picked me up, dusted me off, and kept me going. I believe that every day is an opportunity to grow and become better than we were the day before. If you've come here looking for an experts guide to living your best life, you have come to the wrong place for a couple of reasons. First, I'm no expert. I have a lot of experiences and I'm willing to share what I have learned from my failures but I don't claim to be an expert. Second, Gather the Outcasts is not about living your best life. If you want...